Stir against Adani power project: ‘Unhappy’ with govt resolution, Jetpar farmers to continue stir, but end fast

However, farmers have sought clarity. “We are against the lottery system, which the state government has introduced to decide the market price of the land. A farmer can never benefit from a lottery system. Also, when the compensation for the tower has been revised, why not the right of way for the cables, which remains 30, 45, and 60 per cent. In this case, a farmer whose land is used for only cables will be at a major loss,” Vaibhav Amrutiya, one of the protesters, told The Indian Express.

Farmers said this will mark the third phase of the protest, which began on June 7. The indefinite hunger strike was launched on June 17. The ‘Upwas Chhavni’ (fasting camp)—a makeshift shamiana near the village bus stand that was converted into a waterproof dome last week—will now be a ‘Satyagraha Chhavni’ (Satyagraha Camp).

Alleging that the government was trying to “divide” them, the farmers said that discussions with farmers at the village, taluka, district, and state levels will be held in the coming days to formalise the demands and chart the way forward. “Discussions on the GR will be held during the meetings with representatives from each village, taluka and district level. This will form the basis of our demands and representation to the government,” the farmers said.   Market rate committee to decide land price.

After The Indian Express reported the protest, the Gujarat government announced higher compensation, agreeing to several key demands made by the farmers. The government also issued a GR within 24 hours, bringing it into effect immediately. The GR notified by the Energy and Petroleum Department states that the final market price of the farmers’ land will be determined by the Market Rate Committee based on the ‘reference market rate’ as well as a ‘lottery system’.For the valuation of the land, the Market Rate Committee will appoint land valuers who are empanelled by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), ‘desirable’ that these valuers should be primarily state valuers. Three valuers (one by the landowners’ representative, one by the TSP and one by the District Collector) will be appointed on the day of the committee meeting itself.

The appointed evaluators have to submit their independent evaluation reports in a sealed cover directly to the district collector within 21 days of their appointment by the committee. After receiving all three reports, two reports will be opened by the district collector by randomly selecting them through a ‘lottery system’.

As per the new guidelines, the ‘method’ laid down for determining the ‘Reference Market Rate’ (which has been incorporated for the first time since the state government has adopted formation Market Rate Committee) states that if the difference in the market rates determined by the two selected valuers is less than 20 per cent of the lower value, the average value of both the valuations will be considered as the reference market rate.

In the second case, if the difference between the two is more than 20 per cent, the reference market rate can be fixed at 10 per cent more than the lower valuation. “Only if this is not acceptable, the sealed report of the third valuer shall be opened and the reference market rate shall be finalised by taking the average of the two lowest valuations”, the guidelines state.